


The Beautiful & Damned

by PeaceBlessingsPeyton



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Betty is a teacher, Betty is clairvoyant, Depression, Drug Abuse, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Jughead is an EDM DJ, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-08-22 10:21:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16596017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeaceBlessingsPeyton/pseuds/PeaceBlessingsPeyton
Summary: “Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.” -The Beautiful & Damned by F. Scott FitzgeraldJughead Jones (a.k.a. DJ Basilisk) is an up and coming EDM DJ in the L.A. area. He should be happy, like any late twenty-something should be, but unfortunately, his anxiety and depression keep getting in the way. He wasn’t always this way, but each aspect of his life made up one of the cards in the shitty hand he had been dealt. His parents, the people in his hometown, living in poverty, and things he didn’t even dare speak aloud. All of these things, all of these things he’d never chosen to experience added up to the person he was today.That is, until he bumps into a green-eyed blonde outside his manager’s office.She’s beautiful and unlike anyone he has ever met, and while he’s 100% positive he’s damned, he’s determined to get to know her anyway.





	1. The Beautiful & Damned

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my 15th work on AO3 ladies and gents! I have been working on this story on and off since the end of July. I originally had a prologue written for it but decided last minute not to use it. Please be advised that this story is going to get dark at times but there will be a happy ending! Please always look at the beginning of the chapter for warnings and I will edit tags as I go along. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!! 
> 
> As always, shout out to @bugggghead for betaing this for me! Your suggestions are beyond valuable <3

Yeah, put the hours in, put the work in

Swear I try so hard to be perfect

But sometimes shit feels like a burden

'Cause I still ain't shit but a person

~G-Eazy, _“The Beautiful & Damned” _

  


* * *

 

Hope·less /ˈhōpləs/ ( _adjective)_ : feeling or causing despair about something.

 

Anx·i·e·ty /aNGˈzīədē/ (noun): a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

 

* * *

  


-Thirteen-

 

The summer before his freshman year of high school, he was coming home late from writing at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe when he approached his trailer; he stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the front door was open, swinging on its rusty hinges.

 

_Jellybean._

 

He took off running, his messenger bag holding his laptop swinging wildly behind him as his lungs burned from the humid summer air.

 

He ran into the trailer and felt his stomach roil at the sound of silence.  

 

“Jellybean!” he called, looking around wildly. There was only one place he could think she could be.

 

He went to her secret hiding spot, on the floor of his closet behind a box of books. He flung the door of the closet open, pushing the clothes back as he waited for the sense of relief to rush through him from the sight of her safe and sound.

 

But it never came.

 

She wasn’t in the closet, she wasn’t anywhere in the trailer. He ran back outside.

 

“Jellybean!” he yelled again, panic beginning to rise in his chest.

 

Once again, he was met with silence.

 

Devastation - severe and overwhelming crashed over him, knocking the air right out of his lungs. Where were they? Where was his mother and sister?

 

All he cared about in this world was her, his baby sister. The one who giggled when he made the “Papa Bear” voice when he read her _Goldilocks and the Three Bears_ as a bedtime story, the one who sat on his lap in the kitchen, stealing bites out of his morning cereal, the one who had his whole heart. The one he couldn’t protect, the one he couldn’t keep his promise to.

 

_One job. You had one job. Watch and protect your sister._

 

He waited a week. Seven days, one hundred and sixty-eight hours, ten thousand and eighty minutes, six hundred four thousand and eight hundred agonizing seconds.

 

They were gone and they were never coming back.

 

~***~

 

-Present-

 

Jughead was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway on his jet black Indian Scout Sixty, going twenty miles over the speed limit and he wasn’t wearing a helmet. There was something so freeing about the crisp, salty ocean air whipping through his hair. He knew he should wear a helmet and normally he did, but this was part of a ritual for every time he came back from a show. He’d put his bags down in his home in Los Angeles, wait until just before the sun was about to set, and ride his motorcycle straight out to the PCH. It was always a humbling ritual really, especially when things were going so well because he knew from his horrendous childhood that although so many people have told him that he had a natural gift, things could be so much different.

 

Flashbacks of broken beer bottles, cigarette burns, and blood zipped through his mind, but he effectively clamped those thoughts down by downshifting and raising the volume in his ears before his anxiety could take hold.

  


He had just gotten home from the Paradiso Festival, which was a gig he couldn’t even believe his agent (and coincidentally his best friend’s girlfriend) had landed him. The festival was held in George, Washington and while it wasn’t one of the more famous EDM festivals - like Coachella or the Electric Daisy - but it was definitely nothing to stick his nose up at. There were big name disc jockeys, guys that Jughead had idolized his whole life that were headlining and Jughead was sharing the main stage with them. It had also been a huge networking opportunity and if things had gone well, which they did, it would definitely put his name on the map - and that was the whole point.

 

_Wasn’t it?_

 

Speaking of headlines, Deadmau5 he had been one of the more famous DJs at the Paradiso festival. His agent, Veronica Lodge, had pulled some strings and made sure that he and Joel (a.k.a. Deadmau5) ended up backstage at the same time so that Jughead could casually bump into his childhood idol. Jughead had felt so stupid, palms sweaty as he tried to look natural behind stage before his set trying to spot the DJ. He didn’t spot him before his set and he shook off his anxiety as he walked up the metal stairs to the roaring crowd and flashing neon lights. It was after his set that the miracle happened.

 

*

 

_Jughead finished his last song and walked back down the metal stairs, pure adrenaline pumping through his veins. He was used to playing his music in front of people, he had been doing it for almost ten years, but that had definitely been the biggest crowd he had performed in front of yet. The energy between him and the crowd had been absolutely palpable. One of the techs behind stage threw him a water and as he uncapped it and began to chug the whole thing down, Deadmau5 walked straight up to him._

 

_“Hey dude! That set was amazing!” he said, smiling at him before putting his hand out. “I’m Jo-”_

 

_“Joel fucking Zimmerman,” Jughead finished for him, taking his hand to shake. “It’s so nice to meet you.”_

 

_Joel laughed. “Thanks. That was a great set you played up there. Your future house techniques were amazing, I definitely liked the beat you started with on your last track. You were going HAM on the wubs in the end there, it sounded good.”_

 

_Jughead’s head was spinning, even though he’d been performing EDM for awhile now, it was hard to translate the lingo sometimes._

 

_“Uh- thanks,” he said as he tried to get a handle on his nerves._

 

_“Do you have an agent yet? If not, I could hook you up with some great people.”_

 

_Jughead shook his head. “I’ve been signed officially for a little over a year now, but thanks for the offer. I appreciate it.”_

 

_Joel gave him a bright grin. “Anytime.”_

 

_“Dead-mouse, you’re on in 5,” a tech said to their left before handing Joel his signature mouse mask._

 

_Joel took it from him and gave him a curt nod. “Alright, I’m off. Let’s hang out sometime, though. I’d like to hear more of your stuff.”_

 

_“T-thanks.” Jughead cleared his throat. “Thanks, that sounds awesome. I’ll catch you before the weekend is over.”_

 

_Joel gave him one more smile before heading up the metal stairs to the stage, pausing briefly the top to put his mouse mask on. Then he disappeared into the fog and took his place on stage._

 

_***_

 

Jughead pulled over to a lookout at one of the rock cliffs overlooking the vast, iridescent ocean. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The sun had almost just slipped past the line where the sky met the sea, glowing red and making the sky fuschia, tangerine, and casting a purple hue over the water.

 

“Oh these Los Angeles skies,” he said to no one in particular.  

 

Although he had always chosen to complete this ritual alone, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever find someone to share these moments with. Someone who would ride on the back of his bike, their arms around his waist securely, stopping randomly like he had done to enjoy the sunset with.

 

He had chosen solitude, willingly, intentionally even, but sometimes when things got too quiet, he couldn’t ignore the weight of his loneliness. He often wondered if he was depressed.

 

He’d had girlfriends in the past. There was Cheryl Blossom, the redheaded vegetarian fashion designer. Jughead almost laughed out loud when his agent set the two of them up. He was pretty sure if it wasn’t for his rock hard abs and biceps that Archie helped him get, that this woman would’ve never looked twice at him. She turned out to be a little too crazy for his taste (which was saying a lot for him) and she usually referred to him as her “charity case”.

 

Then there was Sabrina Spellman, a blonde actress who loved burgers almost as much as he did and loved to read the classics. She was almost his match, but there were one too many nights after they had fucked that he couldn’t ignore that gaping hole in his chest. The feeling that something was just missing between them.

 

Lastly, there was Toni Topaz, a fellow EDM DJ. Jughead respected her, and although they had never really been a “thing”, they still hooked up on occasion.

 

All of them were beautiful and interesting in their own way, but despite everything, it all came down to the same thing for all of them. He was just too much of an asshole. Too angry. Too stubborn. Too much of everything and not enough of anything, never enough of what _they_ wanted. They just didn’t understand and none of them were even close to serious enough for him to explain it. None of them made him get tongue tied or blush. None of them made his stomach flutter at the idea of seeing them. Maybe he was a heartless asshole, but underneath all of his nasty layers, he wanted all of those things with someone.

 

Jughead shook his head at the thought.

 

Maybe he was just a complete loser. Or fucking weak. Either way, he knew it was pathetic.

 

After all, he wasn’t completely alone. He had his sister, Jellybean, sometimes he had his mother, and he had his best friend since childhood, Archie Andrews.

 

As he watched the sun disappear below the water line, he made a silent plea to the universe to send someone his way in the near future that could not only handle him but could also tie up his tongue.  

 

Jughead sighed and pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket to check his missed messages.

 

 **Gladys:** Your sister’s out on a bender again.

 

 **Archie:** Hey man, how was the trip? Ronnie said you met Deadmau5 and Armin van Buuren!

 

 **Veronica Lodge:** Jughead! Hope your trip home was good, don’t forget our meeting tomorrow at my office. 10:30 am sharp! My assistant will have your usual waiting.

 

He typed out a reply to Archie first, promising him details over burgers tomorrow for lunch and confirmed his appointment with Veronica. He ignored his mother altogether. Instead, he texted JB.

 

_Where are you? Call me._

 

Jughead dragged his hand over his face before walking back over to his motorcycle, securing his helmet on his head and kicking the starter. He raced back towards the city, leaving his hopes and dreams of love and life echoing in the sounds of crashing waves on the Pacific Coast.

 

***

 

The next morning, Jughead managed to get to Veronica’s office at exactly 10:30 am. Her office was located on the thirty-seventh floor of the Citigroup Center building and although she wasn’t located where most of the music and talent agencies were in the city, he really didn’t mind.

 

When he stepped off the elevator, Veronica’s personal assistant, Midge, got up from her desk and stood by it. Normally, he flashed Midge his best smile (mostly because she could spit in his coffee) but this morning he was extremely tired and just gave her a nod accompanied by a grunt.

 

He had totally planned to go home last night, order a meat lover’s pizza, and watch Thor Ragnarok on the big screen TV in his bedroom (yes, he was an Avengers fan). He did order the pizza and he did watch the movie, but he was interrupted when the Los Angeles Police Department called him explaining that they had his baby sister, Jellybean Jones, in lockup for drunk and disorderly behavior, among other things. He immediately called Veronica, just in case paparazzi were already waiting for him at the station and got in his black Volkswagen Jetta to get her.

 

Two things played on repeat on his drive over there:

 

_1- Thank God they weren’t calling to tell him that she was dead._

 

_2- Maybe one of these days he should stop bailing her out._

 

The entire night had been a mess and he closed his eyes for about two hours before he had to get ready for his morning meeting. He wanted to sleep more but his anxiety had kept him wide awake. 

 

“Good Morning, Mr. Jones,” Midge said, handing him an extra large coffee and a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit from his favorite place.

 

“Good Morning, Midge, thanks for this,” he said, gesturing to the food. “I definitely need it this morning.”

 

Midge flushed crimson under the pink blush already on her cheeks and then, without another word, led him to Veronica’s office.

 

“Jughead, come on in,” Veronica greeted. “Or should I say DJ Basilisk?”

 

Jughead rolled his eyes.

 

Originally, he had been known as DJ J Jones, but Veronica insisted that he come up with a new name, one that would help with branding. His mind immediately trailed to the gang he was in when he was seventeen, the Serpents. He didn’t want to be called DJ Serpent and anyone who had seen Harry Potter would know what a Basilisk was. But Harry Potter wasn’t the reason why he had chosen that name. A Basilisk, in legend, was reputed to be a serpent king who could cause death with a single glance. When Jughead was up on stage performing, watching the throng of moving bodies below him - he felt powerful. The rhythms he’d created moving their body, each beat bending them to his will. He felt like their king.

 

Jughead set his coffee down on a coaster sitting on Veronica’s desk and then sat down, unfoiling his breakfast.

 

“So,” Veronica said, “how was Washington?”

 

“Honestly,” Jughead said through a mouthful of egg sandwich. “It was fucking amazing. Joel and Armin were so incredible.”

 

“Their people might have already called me to schedule some studio time with you,” Veronica said nonchalantly.

 

“Are you serious?”

 

“They loved your ‘Believe’ song with Ansel and they both want to create something with you.”

 

Jughead met Ansel Elgort about six months ago at a release party. He had been sitting in a lawn chair away from the party, writing in his moleskine notebook working on a poem.

 

_Lived on my knees_

_They told me, that you'd set me free_

_We lost our years together because of the fear_

_Know I'm never gonna make it there_

_I just wanted Eden on repeated sunny days_

_The land below me cracks and tears_

_Look into the sky through thick and rainy haze_

 

Jughead felt a presence behind him and when he looked up, Ansel was standing over his shoulder and reading his work. At the time, Jughead had no idea who he was, but they became fast friends after Ansel asked him if he was, “Fucking depressed.” Shortly after, they were in Jughead’s home studio turning his poem into a song.

 

“So, I want to discuss booking you for upcoming shows, both local and across the country to finish out the year. There may also be some opportunities in Europe but we’re still looking into it,” Veronica said, looking at some notes on her computer. “What do you think?”

 

Before Jughead could answer, a text came in from JB.

 

 **JB:** I’m so sorry big brother, it won’t happen again.

 

Jughead’s heart twisted painfully, he felt like he was stuck in the vicious cycle with his little sister. He spent so much time being her big brother, helping her out of one to many situations and forgiving her no matter what.

 

Jughead cleared his throat before putting his phone back in his pocket. “If I could stay closer to home for a little while, I think that would be best.”

 

Veronica looked up from her computer, her lips pressed into a thin line but she didn’t say anything. He knew what she wanted to say though, that he was throwing opportunities away for his drug addict sister and verbally abusive mother.

 

After their meeting, Jughead thanked Veronica and proceeded to leave her office. Just as he opened the door, he ran straight into someone. Anxiety and annoyance bubbled up inside of him. He looked down thinking it was going to be Midge but was surprised when he saw the most gorgeous green eyes he had ever seen instead of soft brown ones.

 

Gorgeous green eyes that immediately calmed him, the anxiety in his chest evaporating instantly.

 

“Jesus, I’m so sorry,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I really need to fucking watch where I’m going.”

 

The woman laughed, kneeling down to get something and it was then he realized that he knocked her book straight out of her hands.

 

“Here, let me,” he said, bending down to help her with the one book.

 

Their hands brushed against each other’s for a brief moment and it was almost as if a spark passed between them because her head shot up to look at him. He couldn’t 100% tell what she was thinking, but what he did notice, was how breathtakingly beautiful she was and how her soft smile made his heart flutter.

 

He stood, looking anywhere but at her and secretly hoping that his face wasn’t as red as he thought it was. After a beat, he gained some courage and dared to look back at her but not before scanning the title of the novel she was carrying.

 

_The Beautiful & Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. _

 

He looked at her then, his stomach doing this weird flippy thing as he wondered what kind of person read anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald that wasn’t the Great Gatsby.

 

_A fucking amazing one, that’s who._

 

“I shall go on shining as a brilliantly meaningless figure in a meaningless world,” he said, quoting the book effortlessly.

 

Her eyes lit up immediately, but there was something sad behind them that he couldn’t quite place.

 

“Well anyway,” he said. “Sorry again.”

 

“That’s okay, I’m sure my book will survive,” she offered, giving him another breathtaking smile.

 

Then she walked around him towards Veronica’s office and before he got on the elevator, he heard Veronica squeal, “B! You made it!”

 

Idly, he wondered if she was some new actress or singer that Veronica had managed to sign. It wouldn’t surprise him, considering Veronica’s company was growing. But secretly? Part of him hoped she was no one at all.

 

***

 

“Who the hell was that?” Betty asked incredulously as she sat down in a chair across from Veronica.

 

“Who?” Veronica asked.

 

“That ridiculously hot guy I could barely form words in front of,” she said, stilling blushing.

 

 _That ridiculously hot guy that could quote F. Scott Fitzgerald on cue,_ she thought to herself.

 

Veronica looked out the door in an effort to see who Betty was referring to.

 

“Jughead?!”

 

Betty wrinkled her nose. “That’s his name?”

 

“It’s not the name on his birth certificate but yeah, that’s his name.”

 

Betty looked over her shoulder just in time to see the elevator doors close.

 

“He seemed sad,” Betty said before turning back to Veronica.

 

Veronica gasped, “Did you get a read on him? I’m always wondering what’s going on in that head of his.”

 

Betty shook her head. “Veronica, you know I don’t share what I see about other people.”

 

Veronica rolled her eyes. “You’re no fun sometimes! You know that?”

 

Betty laughed. “Yes, you tell me that often.”

 

Veronica stuck out her tongue. “Well, it’s true.”

 

Truthfully, it wasn’t what Betty saw when her hand brushed against Jughead’s. It had been the quote he had chosen to recite from the book she was reading. Did he really think life was meaningless?

 

An image of a little boy with a dark jean sherpa jacket and grey beanie with his arms around a little girl wearing a summer dress with a bright red bow in her long, curly hair flashed through Betty’s mind.

 

Jughead’s sadness had something to do with the girl in the photograph.

 

“Does he have a sister?” Betty blurted out without thinking.

 

Veronica froze, her eyes immediately going wide, giving Betty her answer. “Geez, Betty, you really scare me when you do that sometimes.”

 

Well, that answered her question. He did have a sister and she was part of the deep sadness he felt.

 

“Oh no,” Veronica scolded, breaking Betty out of her thoughts.

 

“What?” Betty asked.

 

“I know that look, B. You should stay away from Jughead. I mean, I love him dearly, but he is a damned asshole. All that boy is going to bring you is heartbreak and if he did that, there is a good chance I will not be able to keep it professional,” Veronica finished.

 

“I don’t even know him, V. I just bumped into him outside your office,” she sassed back with a roll of her eyes.

 

Her best friend raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at her. “I’m just saying, you’ve been warned.”

 

***

 

Betty looked over the menu at the restaurant she and Veronica were sitting in, trying to quell the anxiety in her chest.

 

“Did you have to bring us to one of the most expensive restaurants in LA?” she grumbled quietly.

 

“It’s on me B, pick whatever you want.”

 

Betty sighed and looked out at the ocean. It wasn’t that she minded Veronica paying, in fact, she probably wouldn’t have gotten where she was right now without her best friend’s generosity, but she couldn’t help but feel bad when Veronica spent money on her.

 

Seemingly out of thin air, a waiter approached their table with champagne and two glasses and poured both of them some.  

 

“What’s the occasion?” she asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

 

“Surviving your first year of teaching, of course!! It’s a huge accomplishment and we must celebrate!”

 

The two women took a sip from their glasses and Veronica nodded her approval to the waiter before he left them to continue looking over the menu.

 

“So are you excited? Your first year is officially over!” Veronica exclaimed.

 

Betty smiled and exhaled in relief that was at a level she knew only a first year teacher could feel. “You have no idea. Those kids gave me a run for my money, let me tell you.”

 

Betty spent her first year of teaching at a high school in the Los Angeles Public School system in what most people would call “a bad neighborhood”. When she first started working there, she was advised by some of her coworkers to be out of the building before dark and never be the first one there in the morning. During the day, the neighborhood she worked in was fine, but once the sun went down and street lamps started to cast dark shadows on the street, it was a completely different story.

 

For the most part, the teenagers she taught were wonderful, wonderful kids but they were challenging. They came from broken homes and the majority of the male students had ended up in a gang before the end of the school year. It was heartbreaking.

 

“Do you think you’ll stay at the same school next year?” Veronica asked.

 

“Of course, I like teaching there. Besides, I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. I’m not tenured.”

 

“I give you a lot of credit, Betty, I’d be scared out of my mind if I worked where you did.”

 

Betty rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I think we went to high school with scarier people than the kids I teach.”

 

Veronica laughed. “That is definitely true.”

 

“So what’s new with the business?” Betty asked after the waiter returned to take their lunch orders.

 

Veronica was currently the owner and CEO of Lodge Entertainment, which was a branch off of her father’s company, Lodge Industries. When she first started the company straight out of high school, Veronica built it up and bought it from her father a few years ago. At the time, Betty thought she was crazy, starting a company before she even went to college to learn how to run one. However, Betty knew her best friend was determined and she was impressed with how far she had come with it.

 

Lodge Entertainment currently had ten music artists and five movie actors on its ledger. It wasn’t much compared to some other companies in the entertainment industry, but Veronica had worked her ass off to make her company what it was.

 

“Nothing too much. We’re in the middle of trying to sign a few more people and I need to hire a new manager and someone to work with Archie on lyrics with other artists.”

 

Archie was Veronica’s boyfriend. When they first started dating, they had gotten a lot of crap from the press because Veronica was also in the middle of signing him. Neither of them seemed to care and they had been going strong for the last two years.

 

“Is it really hard to fill those positions?” Betty asked.

 

“Eh, yes and no. The problem is that I am looking for someone with a fresh set of eyes, you know? Someone who fits what Lodge Entertainment stands for, but can still go out and find clients that I wouldn’t necessarily choose myself. Plus, finding someone to work on lyrics can be difficult.”

 

“I could help out if you want? With the lyrics, I mean,” she offered.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, I get along with Arch well enough and it’s really just like a brainstorming session, right? Proofreading? I’ve done all of that with my students.”

 

Veronica looked at her for a moment and Betty instantly knew she was running the different outcomes in her head.

 

“Okay, yeah. I’ll have Midge send you over a contract later today.”

 

Later on, after the girls had eaten and the check had been signed, Veronica cleared her throat.

 

“Actually B, there was a reason why I asked you out to lunch today.”

 

Betty eyes shot to Veronica’s, her eyebrows furrowing. “Uh oh, I don’t like that face at all.”

 

“Polly called me.”

 

Betty’s jaw dropped. “What?”

 

She hadn’t talked to her older sister since the day she left home to move to LA. Polly had gotten pregnant as a teenager, the father of her twin niece and nephew a boy by the name of Jason Blossom, skipped town before she even went into labor. Betty had turned her life upside down to help Polly raise the twins, including but not limited to putting off college. Then one day, Jason returned out of the blue and Polly just forgave him. It was like nothing ever happened, like he hadn’t abandoned his family. Betty saw the same weaknesses in Polly that she saw in her mother, and she saw the same flaws in Jason that she saw in her father, too.

 

“Yeah, she called me, said you hadn’t been answering her calls for over a year now. I told her that I wasn’t going to give her information on you,” Veronica said.

 

Betty breathed a sigh of relief, her fingers uncurling from her palms. “Oh, good.”

 

“But she did ask me to pass along a message.”

 

Betty looked up at Veronica expectantly.

 

“She asked me to ask you to consider coming home for the annual Cooper Family Labor Day Party.”

 

Betty rolled her eyes. “God, she is just as bad as my mother. I don’t know what either of them could say in a four day weekend that would ever change my mind about how I feel about them.”

 

Veronica shrugged. “It might be cathartic to just go home and yell at all of them. It’s not like you have to stay under the same roof as all of them. You can stay with Kevin and his Dad or in that shed you call a cabin.”

 

Betty closed her eyes and took in a deep breath through her nostrils as a wave of calm washed over her. She opened them again, surprised at what she was feeling. Normally the idea of going home to New York gave her terrible anxiety, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt like everything was going to be okay.

 

“That’s true, I guess. I’ll think about it,” Betty acquiesced.

 

“Wonderful! I’m glad that’s over with,” Veronica said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get out of here. We need to get you a dress for the party I’m throwing for my clients next weekend.”

 

Betty groaned. “Veronica, you know I never want to go to those things. It totally isn’t my scene.”

 

“Nonsense! It’s summer, you’re a free woman for the next ten weeks and I plan to enjoy every second of it.”

 

Betty laughed as Veronica linked their arms together, leading them out to their waiting car.  


	2. Therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to @bugggghead for betaing this chapter for me! K you will forever be my favorite <3
> 
> ***Trigger warning: Jughead has some suicidal thoughts in this chapter but thoughts only. He does not self-harm or make any plan to act on his thoughts nor will he at any point in this story.***

You look like therapy   
Exactly what I need   
You're where the darkness meets the light   
The perfect remedy   
To heal this hurt in me   
Come be the therapy for me   
And me for you, tonight

~Armin Van Buuren, “Therapy” 

* * *

  
  
  


_ Clair·voy·ant /ˌklerˈvoiənt/ (noun):  _ a person who claims to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact. 

 

_ Em·path /ˈempaTH/ (noun): _ a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual.

 

* * *

 

  
  


It can be kind of scary when you start to see things before you know what you are. A shadow out of the corner of your eye, knowing something is going to happen before it does, and feeling absolutely everything around you like your nerves have been scrubbed raw. She cried a lot, she was told she was weaker, she was told she was nothing. 

 

And she believed them. 

 

**-Eleven-**

 

If Betty Cooper had to pinpoint the first time she really felt different, it would be the first day of sixth grade when Trula Twist called her a ‘freak’ during recess. 

 

_ “Look,” Trula said, “there’s the freak.”  _

 

_ “Do you think her parents know how much of a freak she is?” asked a boy, smirking.  _

 

Betty furrowed her brows in confusion. Trula was her friend, they were Girl Scouts together. Why was she bullying her now? She clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into her palms as she let out a shaky breath and walked away from the recess yard and back into the school. She made it into the girl's bathroom before her tears really started to fall. Once in the safety of the stall, she buried her face in her hands and really let herself cry. She didn’t let herself wail though, because that would draw too much attention, but her body shuddered violently as she pressed her forehead against the stall door. 

 

After, she went to the sink to splash some cold water on her face in the hopes that her eyes wouldn’t look as red and puffy. As she was drying her face, a figure moved out of the corner of her eye, causing her to gasp. She whipped around, her ponytail almost hitting her in the face but she didn’t see anything. 

 

“Is someone there?” she called. 

 

No answer. She looked back at herself in the mirror and took a deep, cleansing breath. 

 

What was happening to her?

 

~***~

 

**-Present-**

 

_ “Betty, Betty you need to listen to me,” Kevin pleaded. “My dad is going to help you but we need to know now - did you know?”  _

 

_ Did she know? She wanted to laugh because it was essentially a very simple question.  _

 

_ Did she know that when her dad was a small boy he witnessed his father murder someone and speak the Lord's gospel, effectively awakening a darkness in him?  _

 

_ Did she know that her father was torturing people in their basement after he’d captured them?  _

 

_ Did she know that when she came home that evening and her father suggested they watch old home videos that he planned to kill her and her mother as soon as the credits rolled?  _

 

_ Did she know that her father went by The Blackhood and that he would go down in history as the worst serial killer upstate New York had ever seen?  _

 

_ No. No, she didn’t know.  _

 

_ But that was the problem - she should have.  _

 

_ *** _

 

Betty woke up that morning gasping for air, her palms bleeding and covered in sweat. 

 

“Ugh,” she groaned as she returned to her senses. “This is why I don’t fucking sleep!” 

 

Throwing back the covers, she walked straight to the shower and turned the nozzle for the cold water. She stripped off her shirt and underwear and forced her body under the ice-cold spray. The shock to her nervous system was the only thing that would wipe the remnants of her nightmare straight from her mind. When her fingers and toes were numb and she was sure her lips were tinted blue, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She looked at herself in the mirror, the ghostly appearance not even phasing her anymore. The deep purple bruises under her eyes from lack of sleep were enough to cause anyone worry. Lucky for her, there was a cosmetic solution to her sleepless problem. 

 

She didn’t have insomnia, in fact, she would love nothing more now that the school year was over to submerge herself in her feather soft bed and succumb to sleep - but she couldn’t do that. Whenever Betty went to sleep, she would have night terrors, sometimes so bad that her fingers would curl in her sleep, her fingernails pressing into her palm until they broke flesh. It was exhausting. Before she moved to L.A., she was only letting herself sleep every other night but her body got used to that and on the nights she did let herself sleep the night terrors returned. 

 

Her body had to be exhausted to the point where she could guarantee a dreamless sleep to be safe. Lately, she only let herself get a full night’s sleep once a week, settling for a two-hour nap during the six other days. 

 

She had to be careful though, she practically had the symptoms of sleep deprivation memorized. 

 

After tearing her sheets from her bed and throwing them in the wash, she toweled off the remaining moisture on her body and pulled on her running gear. She tightened her laces and grabbed a water bottle, locking up her apartment before heading down to her car. 

 

Her neighborhood was safe enough to run in but on mornings like this, she liked to drive over to Ocean Trails Reserve which was located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. One of the many benefits of moving to the west coast was having ocean views at her fingertips. There was something about running along the rock cliff, the ocean breeze whipping through her hair while the salt spray filled her lungs. Even without all that, the colors on the trails alone were enough to take her breath away. 

 

Reaching her destination, she zipped her key fob into her running shorts and walked off to the side of the trailhead to stretch. She did a few lunges and jumped three times to warm up her muscles and then she was off. 

 

It was a beautiful morning, the kind that made her wonder why there wasn’t more poetry about the west coast. The sky was an ethereal blue with cirrus clouds streaking across it, only adding to its to beauty. She made a left toward a trail that descended closer to the ocean. It was a narrow path, but Betty loved it for the yellow flowers that lined the trail, the yellow and green of the flowers and the brush making an amazing contrast against the already vibrant sky. Once she was down closer to the water, she could tell that the ocean was calm that morning.

 

There was always something painfully majestic and everlasting about the ocean to her. It was more ancient than the mountains, rivers, lakes, and the people who navigated them. No matter what, people always seemed tied to its powerful turbulent waters, lost in its dazzling, transcendent sparkle called by its vast horizon. She envied the fact that whether the ocean was calm and serene or treacherous and unforgiving no one ever seemed to question its beauty or power. It simply just was. 

 

There were some days when she wished she was more like the ocean and less like herself. 

 

Settling into her second mile, she thought about her conversation with Veronica yesterday about Polly, a surge of annoyance rising in her chest. Betty wanted nothing to do with her mother and sister after the way they betrayed her. After they spilled her deepest darkest secrets to strangers like her privacy (and her sanity) meant nothing to them. 

 

_ Betty pulled into the driveway of the family lake house where she, her mother, and Polly had been living since her father was arrested. Her brows furrowed as she got out of the car, looking around to see more than just her mom and sister’s cars parked in the driveway.  _

 

_ “Mom?” she called out. “Why are all those cars parked outside…”  _

 

_ Betty froze as she took in the state of the living room. The couch had been moved back to make room for ten or so chairs that sat in a circle. In each chair sat a woman that Betty didn’t recognize. She first looked to Polly in confusion and then to her mother.  _

 

_ “Betty, please, join us. Sit,” her mother said, motioning to the only vacant chair in the room.  _

 

_ Her anxiety picked up as alarm bells started going off in her head. Something wasn’t right.  _

 

_ “What’s going on?” she asked as she took a seat.  _

 

_ “Well, you’ve been so reluctant to meet people from the Farm that we figured we’d bring the farm to you,” her mother said.  _

 

_ “Yeah, we know you’re hesitant to join, but we figure after you complete your first testimony that you’ll be more open to the idea of it.”  _

 

_ The Farm. Originally, when Polly had first brought it up to her sister as part of her and Jason’s plan to run away when she got pregnant, Betty thought it was a place. Unfortunately, Polly never made it there as her parents had decided that she would be sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy to finish out the term of her pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption. However, that never happened and Betty was able to convince her mother to let Polly return home and keep the twins. Polly was devastated when she got home and Jason was nowhere to be found. It had been the only thing keeping her together while she was with the Sisters. But Betty had an undeniable feeling that he would be back and it wouldn’t be good.  _

 

_ About a year later, Jason turned up out of nowhere, claiming that he had gone ahead to the Farm without Polly and wanted her and the twins to join him.  _

 

_ At first, Betty and her mother had been furious. How could Jason be absent for the first year of the twins’ lives and then just show up out of the blue and expect to be forgiven? He claimed that he had been building a life for Polly and the twins, and not even five minutes after stepping into the Cooper household, dropped to one knee and asked Polly to marry him.  _

 

_ Before Polly could even open her mouth to respond, Betty knew her answer - yes.  _

 

_ That was strike one.  _

 

_ As it turned out, the Farm was more of what she would describe as ‘a body snatching cult’ and less of a place at all.  _

 

_ “Testimony?” Betty asked wearily.  _

 

_ “It’s just a conversation,” her mother explained.  _

 

_ “An open, non-judgemental conversation about all the bad things you’ve done in your life,” a red-headed girl, named Evelyn chimed in. _

 

_ Betty felt a whole new level of unease with ten sets of eyes upon her. Normally, her mood reflected the moods of others in the room. The women sitting around her looked happy and calm, but Betty felt  trapped. However, the Farm was important to her mom and Polly and she didn’t want to hurt their feelings.  _

 

_ “What kinds of things would you like to know?”  _

 

_ “Everything,” Evelyn said, her brown eyes boring into her. “Speak from the heart. From what your mother and Polly have told us already, we know you’ve been through so much. Between your dark kinship with your father and the visions you’ve been having since you were a child.” _

 

_ “Wait, what? What?” Betty asked, her mind spinning.  _

 

_ She had never spoken a single word of the visions she’d had since she was a child to anyone. The only place she dared process what was happening to her was in her diary and that meant…  _

 

_ “Mom, Polly… you read my diary?”  _

 

_ Strike two.  _

 

_ “Betty, don’t worry,” her mother said, brushing off her concerns. “Everything we share with the Farm is kept in confidence. We all know each other’s secrets.” _

 

_ “The wig. The webcamming,” Evelyn offered.  _

 

_ No. No, no, no, no, no. This was not happening. How could her mother and her sister do this to her? After everything that they’d been through together. After everything Betty had done for them - putting off school, raising the twins, paying the bills.  _

 

_ It was too much. It was all too much. Betty quickly stood and the room literally started to spin.  _

 

_ “This was a mistake, Betty’s not ready,” her mother said disappointedly.  _

 

_ Strike three.  _

 

_ Betty stumbled from the living room and up to her room, going straight to the bathroom. She immediately turned on the cold water in the sink and splashed it on her face, letting the shock from the cold temperature recenter her.  _

 

_ That night she burned all her diaries, packed her things, and moved into the Keller’s cabin across the lake.  _

 

_ *** _

 

Betty returned to her car within an hour, clocking herself at ten minutes per mile. She chugged the bottle of water she brought before checking her text messages. Of course, there was ten from Veronica going over the plan for the afternoon. Tonight was Veronica’s client party for Lodge Entertainment and she was hosting it at her multi-million dollar home in Beverly Hills. Betty was going to pack everything she needed for the evening, head to her book club session, and then go to Veronica’s straight after. 

 

She started her car and began her drive back to her apartment, thinking through the discussion she had planned for that day's book club meeting. 

 

The book club was made up of some of the students from the high school she taught at the previous year. It was for kids that were academically motivated and needed a reason to stay out of trouble over the summer. She held meetings three times a week at an old bookstore not far from the school that had a free room open on the second floor. Two out of the three days were spent with kids reading but sometimes they filled that time filling each other in on what was going on in their lives instead. Betty had assured them, that since it was summer and technically their book club was privately funded, she had no obligation to tell anyone about what they shared. 

 

Their stories were heartbreaking. Some of them, their parents were never home either because they were working three to four jobs in an effort to make ends meet while others because they were drug addicts. The pressure for her students to join a gang was overwhelming, hence why they needed an activity like the book club to stay off the streets during the summer. Some of them brought their younger siblings. Betty would watch the younger siblings while their older brothers and sisters got some reading done. 

 

Today she was going to start the session with a quote from the book they just finished,  _ The Beautiful & Damned _ by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

 

_ “Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.” _

 

She thought it was fitting. Not just for herself and what she had gone through in the last twenty-six years of her life, but fitting for what they had gone through, too. 

 

Thinking about the book reminded her of running into Jughead on her way into Veronica’s office last week. 

 

He was hands down the most attractive man she had ever laid her eyes on. From the inky black waves on top of his head to his dark blue eyes to his chiseled jaw and muscular arms. He was a panty dropper for sure and she had a hard time pinpointing the last time she was attracted to a man solely on his looks. 

 

But she could already tell that there was so much more to him than that. He was troubled, for sure and Veronica had basically forbidden her to have any involvement with him, but that had only made Betty roll her eyes. Veronica wasn’t the boss of her nor was she her mother (not that  _ that  _ would have mattered regardless) and Betty’s interest was piqued when it came to the tall, dark, and handsome man that was Jughead Jones. 

 

When she got back to her apartment and began packing her garment bag, she secretly hoped that she would run into him that evening. The prospect of meeting someone new, someone who knew nothing about her father and her dark past gave her more hope than she’d ever allow herself to speak aloud.  

 

***

 

Jughead looked himself over in the mirror, smoothing down the blue plaid shirt he had chosen to wear that evening. He never really cared about what he wore and Veronica had insisted that the event tonight was casual, but he knew there’d be press outside Veronica’s home so he didn’t want to look like a complete vagrant. 

 

He sighed heavily, trying his hardest not to let his already blooming anxiety get the best of him. 

 

He told himself that he only had to make an appearance for about an hour or so and then he could leave. Besides Archie and Veronica, there wasn’t anyone else he’d really want to hang out with anyway. 

 

Pocketing his phone and his wallet, he headed for his car in the garage. 

 

On the way over, as the city lights whizzed by him, he was lost in thought about something that happened that morning. 

 

When he opened his eyes, his retinas immediately protesting the rays of sunlight coming through the window, an unwelcome thought came to him. 

 

_ No one would miss you if you were gone.  _

 

The thought had startled him at first. Sure, he had been feeling lonelier than usual and his stress and anxiety had been high lately, but he had never had a suicidal thought before. It wasn’t one he even wanted to consider, so he was confused as to how he got it in the first place. 

 

However, as unwanted the thought was at the time, since that morning, he  _ had _ considered the terribly dark thought.  

 

_ Would _ anyone miss him if he were gone? 

 

He knew Archie would, but Archie had Veronica and therefore, although he would probably mourn his loss, Jughead knew he would eventually move on. 

 

He could guarantee his mother would not miss him. She would rejoice in the fact that she would never have to pay back the money he lent her to start her business. 

 

And then there was JB. He hadn’t seen her a lot in the past week but luckily, he hadn’t gotten a call that she had been arrested either, so he figured that was progress. His sister would probably miss him the most, but he would make the arrangements with Veronica to make sure that JB was financially taken care of. 

 

_ Stop thinking like this, Jughead,  _ he scolded himself. 

 

He rounded the corner of the street and took a deep, steadying breath when he saw the line of cars leading to the front gates of Veronica’s home in Beverly Hills. Driving up to the valet (even though he’d been to Veronica's hundreds of times, he  _ still  _ couldn’t get over the valet service in the driveway), he double checked his hair in the mirror and then stepped out of the car. Immediately, his senses were overwhelmed by dozens of blinding camera flashes and people calling “DJ Basilisk!” from all different directions. He plastered his best press smile onto his face, pausing every once in a while to pose for a photo or shake someone’s hand but by the time he got through the doors of Veronica’s house, he could barely breathe. 

 

He walked down the hall in the opposite direction of the party to where he knew there was a small half bath. He splashed cold water on his face until he felt his heart rate start to slow. Sighing, he grabbed a hand towel off the rack and dried his face while looking at himself in the mirror. Why did he have to be like this? Why did he always have to feel like this? 

 

Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths, focusing on the air filling his lungs before he exhaled. It was one of his coping mechanisms provided by an overpaid shrink he saw last year. Once he felt marginally better, he exited the bathroom and made his way back to the party. He tried to think of something positive, something small but good that he could hold onto that would help him make it through the rest of the evening. Some days, it was the simple act of a hot shower and fresh sheets but of course, tonight he was having a hard time finding something. 

 

And then he saw her. The blonde woman from Veronica’s office last week. 

 

_ That’s definitely something,  _ he thought to himself. 

 

She was wearing an emerald green dress that fell just above her knee with an open back and a lot of lace. Her hair was down in golden waves and she had a minimal amount of makeup on. She looked absolutely stunning. He decided then that at some point in the evening, he was going to talk to her. 

 

“Jughead!” he heard Archie’s voice call from behind him. “You made it.” 

 

He turned to face him. “Not by choice,” 

 

“Aw, don’t be such a spoilsport,” Archie chuckled. 

 

***

 

About halfway through the evening, Jughead felt the walls closing in on him and decided that he needed some air. He headed up to the second floor of the house away from the party, walking to the end of the hallway to a guest room he knew had a balcony. Opening the sliding door, he stepped out into the dewy summer air, the moisture passing through his nostrils and into his lungs. He walked over to the railing, bracing his hands on either side of him as he looked up at the sky. There was too much light pollution from the city to see all of the stars he knew existed in the night sky, but there were a few twinkling stars he could make out in the far distance. 

 

Once in a while when he couldn’t sleep, he would hop on his bike and take a ride out toward Topanga State Park. It wasn’t something he did very often because if he was being honest with himself, stargazing could be overwhelming. He’d look at all of the stars in the night sky and wonder about the 7.53 billion people on the planet and all of the billions upon billions of miles in the galaxy that man had yet to travel. It made him feel small and helpless because he knew, in retrospect, that Earth was just an insignificant planet tucked away in the corner of the universe and he was just a dreamer who ran the dangerous risk of getting lost in it all.

 

“The fault dear, Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves…”

 

“Jesus!” he stammered, whirling around. 

 

When he walked out onto the balcony, he hadn’t even considered that someone else could be out there too because it was located in the more private part of the house. 

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” 

 

Green iridescent eyes crashed into stormy blue when he realized that it was the blonde he had bumped into coming out of Veronica’s office. 

 

“Julius Caesar.”

 

Her returning smile was absolutely breathtaking. 

 

“Correct,” she said, snapping her book shut. “I thought it was only fair to throw a quote back at you.”

 

He laughed. “Seems about right.” 

 

“I’m Betty, by the way.” She tucked a stray hair behind her ear before extending her hand to him. “Betty Cooper.” 

 

“Jughead Jones,” he replied, taking her hand in his. 

 

Her hand was incredibly soft and he couldn’t ignore the instant wave of calm that washed over him as soon as they touched. 

He realized he was still holding her hand and released it, coughing awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck. 

 

“So, what are you doing out here?”

 

Betty shrugged, walking over to the railing and resting her arms on it. “Veronica’s parties aren’t really my scene. I usually only last an hour or two before it gets too loud in there.” 

 

He joined her, leaning his forearms over the rail. “Same.” 

 

They gave each other a small smile before looking out at the city skyline once more.

 

“So, how do you know Veronica?” He was dying to know whether or not this mystery girl was in the business. 

 

“We grew up together actually.” 

 

_ Oh, thank god.  _

 

“Really?” 

 

“Yup,” she said, laughing softly as she took her phone out of her bag. “She moved to my town at the beginning of my junior year and we joined the cheerleading team together.” 

 

She scrolled through her phone until she found the picture she wanted to show him. He leaned over, looking at the picture of Betty and Veronica in their cheerleading uniforms holding their pom-poms. Cheerleading made sense for Veronica, she could imagine her taking on one of the roles from movies like  _ Mean Girls _ or  _ Bring It On _ but he didn’t know enough about Betty to know if it fit her as well. 

 

“Are you still as peppy as you look in this photo?” 

 

She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes but I’m definitely not the girl I used to be in high school.” 

 

He laughed. “I don’t think I’ve met anyone that is the same person they used to be in high school except maybe for my friend Archie.” 

 

“And Veronica,” she supplied. 

 

They both laughed and he couldn’t help but feel at ease from how effortless the conversation seemed. 

 

“So why are you avoiding the party downstairs? Isn’t it for you?” she asked. 

 

He sucked in a deep breath, trapping his lower lip between his teeth. “...it’s not really my scene,” he confessed quietly, repeating her words from earlier. “Large crowds give me anxiety.” 

 

“Large crowds?” she asked, confused. “Don’t you perform in front of large crowds all the time?” 

 

He chuckled, she certainly had a point. “That’s different.” 

 

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, expecting to see doubt painted all over her face just like the others. How could this successful guy, who has performed in front of hundreds of thousands of faces have anxiety issues? But all he found on her features was understanding. 

 

“I get that.” 

 

“You do?” he asked, turning to face her fully. 

 

“Yeah, I feel the same with teaching. When I’m in front of a classroom of kids, I am in my element, but speaking in front of adults or being at a party like this, it can get overwhelming.” 

 

A small gust of wind could’ve knocked him over at that point. He’d never met someone that got him so easily this quickly. It only made him more determined to get to know her. There was so much more that he wanted to ask.

 

“There you two are.” 

 

They both turned around to see Veronica standing at the balcony door, his next question dying on the tip of his tongue. 

 

“Hey V,” Betty said, smiling. 

 

“What are you guys doing out here?” she asked, crossing her arms. 

 

Jughead didn’t miss the look Veronica shot at Betty that screamed,  _ What are you doing out here with him? _ Annoyance brewed in his chest, did Veronica really think so little of him? 

 

“Just talking,” Betty answered. 

 

“Yeah, Betty was showing me some photos from your cheerleading days,” Jughead said, shrugging. 

 

Veronica tilted her head, a small smile playing on her lips as her eyes darted back and forth between them. 

 

“B, I was looking for you because I need your help with something.” She held out her hand. “Can I borrow you for a sec?” 

 

“Of course,” Betty said, taking her hand, but before exiting the balcony, she looked over her shoulder. “I’ll see you down there?” 

 

The hope in her voice made his heart stutter in his chest. “Sounds good.” 

 

“Great.” 

 

The two girls made their exit, linking arms before they disappeared out of sight. 

 

***

 

It didn’t surprise him when he came downstairs not too long after the girls that the only help that Veronica needed was to introduce Betty to some guy. He rolled his eyes before walking over to the refreshments and grabbing a bottle of water. Taking a sip of water, he tried to calm the familiar feeling of anger and annoyance uncurling in his stomach, making him feel hot and tingly all over. 

 

It really irked him the way Veronica looked at him earlier, like he wasn’t good enough for her friend, especially after everything he had done for her and Archie. 

 

_ Oh well, _ he reminded himself, _ people are just full of disappointments. _

 

A girl like Betty deserved a better man than he was anyway. He could never make someone like her happy, it just wasn’t in the cards for him. He shook his head. He just met this girl and he was already thinking too much, too fast. Who knew if she was even interested in anything like that regarding him at all. He groaned internally, annoyed with himself and all the thoughts he’d had that evening and decided to leave the party altogether. Clearly, these types of functions weren’t good for him. 

 

“Hey! There you are,” Betty said, walking over to him. 

 

“Here I am,” he said dryly.

 

“Are you leaving already?”

 

“I thought we already established that this isn’t my scene,” he snapped. 

 

Maybe if he was a jerk to her, she would leave him alone and then there’d be nothing to think about when it came to the blonde standing in front of him. 

 

“Oh…well that’s too bad,” she said coyly.

 

Okay, she had him. “Oh yeah, why’s that?” 

 

“Well, I was just about to ask you to dance.”

 

“Well, that’s too bad because I don’t dance.” 

 

“Aw, come on,” she said pouting. “You don’t floss?” 

 

Betty stood so her feet were shoulder width apart and then moved her arms in the ‘flossing’ motion to the beat of the song. 

 

“Or what about the Japan challenge?” she asked next, executing it flawlessly. 

 

He bit his lower lip in a lame effort to keep himself from laughing. The girl definitely had a silly side. 

 

She stopped mid-motion - “Or let’s see… how about we Level Up?” - and then she continued again. 

 

He couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said, giggling. “Did I mention I teach kids for a living?” 

 

“Yes, you did mention that. It explains a lot actually.” 

 

He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he flirted with a girl like this. It made him feel lighter than he had in ages. It wouldn’t last long though, as he saw the guy Betty had been talking to with Veronica start walking towards them. 

 

Betty must’ve noticed the change in his demeanor, a confused look crossing her flawless face. 

 

“Hey, Betty. I thought I lost you there for a sec,” the man said. “Do you want to dance?” 

 

Jughead gritted his teeth, he already wanted to punch this guy in the fucking face. Didn’t he see that she was talking to him? He prepared himself for her acceptance and how he would feel afterward.  _ Breathe, Jones, she’ll say yes and then you can finally leave. _

 

“Oh, thanks for the offer but I’m already dancing with someone.” 

 

That surprised him. 

 

“He doesn’t look like much of a dance partner,” the guy replied smugly, before taking Betty’s arm. “Come on Betty, just one dance. Veronica said you’d be interested in my moves.” 

 

Anger surged through him as he stepped forward. “Listen, man, take a hint. She said no.” 

 

Before the man could respond, he felt Betty’s feather-light touch on his shoulder. “Jughead,” she called softly. 

 

He looked down at her, expecting to see what so many others looked like before. Anger, fear, disappointment. He’d seen it all before after an outburst like this. 

 

But that’s not what he saw at all. 

 

Her hand moved down his arm to his hand as she gripped it gently. “Come on, it’s probably a good idea for you to get out of here,” she said, dragging him towards the front door. 

 

When they got outside, Betty handed the valet Jughead’s ticket. Despite the fact that he felt a little embarrassed, he couldn’t get over how calm he already felt. Normally after an intense situation like that, he would feel the effects for days. 

 

“Listen, I’m sorry…” he began, “I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” 

 

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, that guy was a jerk anyway.” 

 

He put his hands in his pockets, nodding in agreement, not sure what else he could say. 

 

The valet pulled up with his car, handing him the keys. 

 

“It was really nice running into you tonight, Jughead.” 

 

“Same here,” he said, giving her a small smile.  

 

She watched as he walked around the car to the driver’s side door before turning to return to the party. 

 

“Hey Betty,” she stopped, turning to look at him. “I’m sorry we never did get the chance to dance.” 

 

She grinned, taking a few steps back towards him. “That’s okay, there always next time, right?” 

 

She gave him a small wave before he got in his car and began driving away. 

 

Betty Cooper was as unexpected as he hoped she would be, but similar to the uncertainty of the universe, that kind of hope ran a risk. In the past, hope like that would send him sprinting in the opposite direction - but there was something about her, something he couldn’t name yet that only made him hope for  _ more. _

 

When he got on the highway, he felt his phone go off in his pocket, distracting him from his thoughts. 

 

He hit a button on the steering wheel, answering it. “Hello?” 

 

“Yes, Mr. Jones? This is Officer Banks at the 37th precinct, we have your sister Forsythia Jones in lock up and we need you to come and collect her.” 

 

He gritted his teeth. He never would catch a break, would he?

 

He sighed. “I’m on my way.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helllloooooo? *peeks through the computer screen* is anyone still reading this thing? LOL 
> 
> Hey Everyone!! 
> 
> I am SO SORRY it has taken me forever and a day to update this thing. I thought I could handle writing two WIPs at once and clearly, I am not that skilled. Anyways, what did you all think of this chapter? 
> 
> As always I hope you enjoyed this update and I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments! 
> 
> P & B, 
> 
> -Peyton

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr! @peaceblessingspeyton


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